Storm rips through Warren County

Winds reaching 100 mph slammed through this Warren County community and nearby areas about 1 p.m. Thursday, causing damage to trees, homes and vehicles.

Chuck Gysi

Winds reaching 100 mph slammed through this Warren County community and nearby areas about 1 p.m. Thursday, causing damage to trees, homes and vehicles.

The storm, according to the National Weather Service office in Davenport, Iowa, originally was reported as a tornado, however, storm assessment teams from the weather service determined that the damage actually was caused by straight-line winds.

“Large trees (were) blown onto numerous houses and other structures,” the weather service reported. “One house had a quarter of the roof ripped off. A grain silo was pushed off its blocks and several were dented inward. Numerous corn fields were flattened between Kirkwood and Monmouth.”

Illinois State Police troopers from District 14 in Macomb sealed off Kirkwood to outsiders, allowing only residents to return to the community, located five miles west of Monmouth. State police established a command post in the community to handle calls throughout the nearby area.

Corn fields along U.S. 67 south of Monmouth sustained damage as standing corn was blown toward the ground.

In Monmouth, residents worked through the afternoon to clear their yards of debris. Numerous large tree branches were blown down throughout the city, and tree crews worked Thursday evening to clear large tree branches that were downed in Monmouth’s downtown Central Park.

Ameren utility workers were dispatched through the area to repair downed power lines. During the height of the storm, power was knocked out to most of Kirkwood, more than half of Monmouth and a good portion of Galesburg, too, according to Ameren’s Web site.